Former teacher sentenced to probation for affair with student

A former Illini Bluffs teacher must register as a sex offender and stay away from the victim and her family.

Andy Kravetz

A former Illini Bluffs teacher agreed to give up his teacher’s license and spend four years on probation for having an months-long sexual relationship with one of his students last year.

Ian McDonald, 32, of Glasford spoke very little during the Thursday afternoon hearing in Peoria County Circuit Court except to answer Circuit Judge Stuart Borden’s questions. The former history teacher pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault for having sex with the girl, then 17, 15 to 20 times in 2006.

He was given credit for 162 days spent in the Peoria County Jail after his arrest in March. Without the plea agreement, McDonald faced up to 15 years in prison — a punishment he still could face if he violates his probation.

Borden clearly had trouble accepting the agreement, noting McDonald was in a position of trust as the girl’s teacher at the time. The judge was also troubled by McDonald’s purchase of a cell phone for her after the girl’s parents took hers away, an attempt, the judge said, to subvert their authority.

However, in the end, Borden accepted the deal which bars McDonald from ever teaching in the United States again, after Assistant State’s Attorney Larry Evans said the girl and her parents had approved the deal.

Among the terms of his probation are to register as a sex offender, comply with any orders for therapy and avoid contact with the girl and her family. He also must pay a monthly probation fee.

McDonald wore a faded jail jumpsuit. He spoke firmly and with no hesitation as he told Borden he understood the deal, which Borden admitted would attach a "stigma" to McDonald and make finding a job difficult.

Evans said police learned of the relationship after the girl’s parents contacted them. She told police the two had sex up to 30 times, with the first being at his Glasford apartment. She also said they had sex at the school. When interviewed, McDonald admitted what the girl said, stating they were together about 15 to 20 times.

He admitted they had sex in his apartment, her house, his car and at the school, Evans said in open court.

McDonald was arrested in March after he was spotted near a rural Glasford house where a group of teenage girls were soaking in a hot tub. After that, the victim’s parents, who thought they had broken off any inappropriate contact last summer, called police about the relationship.

Andy Kravetz can be reached at (309) 686-3823 or akravetz@pjstar.com.

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